By Frank Mulligan

According to the Financial Times, we all chose the wrong career when we decided to be makers, doers and helpers. The big money is in moving money around, and the best salary deals in China are being given to deal makers right now.

Local Chinese and international financial services companies have benefited from the recent opening of the market. The foreign companies have arrived at a good time, with huge volumes of cash sloshing around in unrewarding bank accounts, or lying under mattresses. It’s the perfect meeting of supply and demand.

Competition for the skills needed to manage huge volumes of investment has resulted in fast rising salaries, and many companies have been forced to reach outside the financial services industries to get the skills. This is hardly surprising Read the rest of “Skills Competition in China Finance” or post a comment

Collective labour contracts have been developed and promoted by the Chinese government and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) since the mid-1990s. Thus far, however, because of the lack of genuine worker participation in the contract negotiations, they have brought only limited benefit to China’s workers.

Read the rest of “Breaking the Impasse” or post a comment >>

Besides the human tragedy, there has always been a certain irony in the fact that the communist system has never been able to achieve its main goal: to bring prosperity to the masses.

More specifically in China, there first where the farmers that did not particularly benefited from the revolution that was undertaken in their name. And now, much to Beijing’s chagrin one imagines, one scandal after another regarding the maltreatment of workers hits the international press circuit.

Read the rest of “Chinese workers’ paradise” or post a comment >>

By Ting Zhang 

As UK companies seek to take advantage of China’s growing commercial prominence, recruiting and keeping employees is becoming more of an issue; particularly with the increase in forged CVs and Diplomas.

Stories in the press make fairly frightening reading. The China Daily did a test and discovered that out of 3,000 diplomas, 800 had been forged. It also revealed that a Harvard PhD can be bought for as little as $100.

Elsewhere, the practice of ‘Qiangshou’, where people sit exams for other people for a fee, is also on the rise. Read the rest of “Caution is the key in Chinese recruitment” or post a comment

By Andrew Hupert

‘Will there or won’t there be?’ The small clump of young European & Asian salesmen breaks from their huddle and puts the question to me. They try to look relaxed, but clearly they’re concerned. The entire sales department has been watching the economies of the US and Europe losing momentum and asking themselves the same question:

Will there be an influx of talent from the North America and Europe into China? Will Shanghai become the new post-grad landing-pad for casual resume builders and hard-playing English teachers? Or will serious, experienced business-people decide that this is the perfect time to establish their China-presence?

It’s a great question for senior managers with HR responsibility. Read the rest of “What would a US recession mean for China Sales HR?” or post a comment